Check your polling place before voting; it likely moved

Twin sisters Kelsey Vaal, left, and Chelsea Vaal, both of Edgewood, look over literature during a poll workers’ class this week at the Kenton County Administration Building in preparation for Kentucky’s May 20 primary.(Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

Thousands of voters in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties could have a new voting precinct and/or a new polling location in Kentucky's May 20 primary. Some may even have a new state legislator because of redistricting.

At polling places where a few of the largest precincts were combined, voters may face long lines, despite extra poll workers and voting machines, county clerks say.

Although postcards recently were sent to Northern Kentuckians who will vote someplace new this election, county clerks are urging voters to make sure they know where to cast their ballots before heading out to vote.

"Take a look online or call your county clerk's office before Election Day," said Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown. "It makes it less confusing. If you did get a card (notifying you of a new polling place), and you want to double-check, we'd rather you do that instead of being confused on Election Day."

In Boone County, 4,558 voters will cast their ballots someplace new in the primary. In Campbell County, about 3,800 will have a new polling place. And in Kenton County, the commonwealth's third-largest county, about 46,000 people will be voting in a new location.

"Do you think the switching of all these ballot locations is going to have a negative impact on turnout?" Kenton County Commissioner Jon Draud asked Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe at a recent fiscal court meeting.

"I hope not," Summe responded. "I can't say for sure, but we have worked very hard to get the information out there."

Summe said she's appeared before nine organizations or government bodies to explain the changes triggered by redistricting. She has worked closely with Kenton County mayors, who have put information about changes in precincts and polling places on their cities' websites.

The primary is especially important for Northern Kentucky voters because many races will be decided then. However, turnout historically has been low. In Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties, primary voter turnout averaged 10.6 percent for Republicans and 9 percent for Democrats in the past three statewide elections.

County clerks say they have spoken to various groups about the changes triggered by redistricting and have notified individual voters about their new polling places by mail.

After Campbell County Clerk Jack Snodgrass recently mailed a letter notifying voters that they'll be voting in new places, he said their biggest frustration was, 'Why are you doing this to us?' "

"We tell them to call their state legislator," Snodgrass said. "All we're doing is following the law, and the law says we have to do this. We have to adhere to the Kentucky Legislature's redistricting changes."

Every 10 years, after a U.S. Census, redistricting is required to adjust for changes in population. Kentucky was among the last to finish this after a Northern Kentucky lawsuit prompted the Kentucky Supreme Court to throw out state legislative maps in 2012.

The people who filed that lawsuit were upset at the way the state House had divided Northern Kentucky. Critics said the House should have created an additional House district to represent the 38 percent population increase that Boone County experienced over the previous decade.

The lawsuit sought to have the General Assembly finish redistricting by November, claiming voters' rights were violated because of a lack of representation. Last August, Gov. Steve Beshear called lawmakers back to Frankfort for a special session that resulted in the adoption of new legislative boundaries.

"I was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that forced (the General Assembly) to go into special session and do this," Brown said. "Boone County was the most underrepresented county in the state. We had the most underrepresented House district and the most underrepresented Senate district."

As an example, Brown said state Republican Rep. Sal Santoro's ,House District 60 had more than 60,000 people in it before redistricting, compared with a House district in Jefferson County with fewer than 35,000.

"Our votes are watered down when we have that kind of disparity," Brown said.

One Boone County precinct that has been changed is Constance, which had about 255 people voting at the Church of the Brethren, Brown said. That precinct, which didn't have enough parking, was merged with Hebron 2 and moved to Lakeside Christian Church in Hebron, for a total of 712 registered voters.

In Campbell County, many of the voting changes occurred in Fort Thomas. In one change, Fort Thomas Methodist Church on North Fort Thomas Avenue had more than 650 voters, Snodgrass said. With redistricting, about 1,400 will use the polling location, making it one of the county's largest.

"Where will we put all those people? We're buying shoehorns," Snodgrass quipped. "The thing is, if you have to change where people vote, you just can't move it anywhere. You have to have a handicapped-accessible building, and there aren't a lot around that area."

Dividing lines for precincts sometimes go through the middle of roads, meaning neighbors across the street from one another may vote at two different places miles apart, Snodgrass said.

In Campbell County, state Rep. Dennis Keene's territory included Wilder, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton before redistricting. After the county's redistricting plan was approved, Silver Grove and Melbourne were added to his district.

"But (the cities) have to be touching," Snodgrass said. "You can't have a gap. So we had to create a dummy precinct along the (Ohio) riverbank from Dayton's boundary to Silver Grove. No one can live there, unless they have a houseboat and call it home."

Summe said Kenton County started with 108 precincts, eliminated eight and created seven new ones as part of the redistricting process, ending with 107.

Under the direction of the Kenton County Board of Elections, Summe said she made changes aimed at making it easier for citizens to vote. All of those changes can be found in a PowerPoint presentation on the Kenton County Clerk's website at www.kentoncountykyclerk.com.

The name of a voter's precinct and much more can be found on the Voter Information Center on the Kentucky Secretary of state's website, at https://cdcbp.ky.gov/VICWeb/index.jsp. That information also can be found on the Kenton County clerk's website.

By entering a voter's first and last names and date of birth, a voter can determine his or her polling location and precinct name, as well as the legislative districts in which he or she votes.

The Boone County clerk's website features maps of every precinct and polling place, as well as videos explaining how to vote on the various machines, Brown said.

The Campbell County clerk's website also includes information on everything from voter registration and precinct locations to absentee voting.

"You can look online to see where to vote, but if you're still not sure, call your county clerk's office," Summe said. "We want to make sure everyone knows where to vote." ⬛